Ramallah: Palestinian farmers with land behind the Israeli separation wall are being forced to abandon them due to the backbreaking cost of irrigating their farms using water wells.
The discrepancy in costs is astounding. To irrigate their land, Palestinian farmers on the other side of the wall have to pay 130 shekels (Dh126) per cubic metre while farmers with land within the wall have to pay 40 shekels (Dh38) per cubic metre. Colonists living illegally in the West Bank have to pay only 20 shekels (Dh19) per cubic metre to irrigate their land.
Palestinian farmers expect the cost to increase further given the rising price of diesel. They have long endured the economic pain of holding on to their land behind the separation wall, but are now being forced to accept that their patriotism cannot make up for their huge financial losses.
"Palestinian farmers have risen to their patriotic duty of holding on to their land despite unfair and racist Israeli restrictions, but now the cost of irrigating their land is far too high for anyone to bear," Esmat Abu Khader, a Palestinian farmer, told Gulf News.
In jeopardy
"Agriculture behind the wall is in real jeopardy and soon the land will be abandoned and left to the Israelis," he added.
Abu Khader said the farmers have asked the Palestinian National Authority to provide them with electricity to pump water from their wells, but their requests have fallen on deaf ears.
Some farmers have set up a committee to solicit donors from other countries. "Donations will allow us to make necessary adjustments to the wells so that they are not dependent on Israeli energy. This will reduce expenses for us," Medhat Zaid, another farmer said.
While the farmers are losing money by cultivating their land, they have also had lucrative offers to work on Israeli land. Farmers are confused as to why the Palestinian National Authority has not stepped in to solve the problem, when doing so will benefit the government.
"It does not make any sense. We started to believe in conspiracy theories after this," Zaid said. "The Palestinian National Authority is sending mixed signals to its people. On the one hand it encourages non-violent resistance, but on the other hand it is allowing blatant Israeli exploitation of the very resistance it claims to champion."
Official response
Gulf News contacted the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture, the municipalities of Nablus, Tulkarem, Qalqilia, and Jenin on the subject of irrigation. Officials confirmed that they were aware of the demands of the Palestinian farmers behind the barrier.
The municipalities said they were waiting for instructions from the ministry which in turn has referred the issue to the Palestinian government.
Municipality officials told Gulf News that the project to supply electricity can be ready in a short time, but so far there have been no instructions to start the work.
The officials say they receive daily complaints from farmers, the backbone of the Palestinian struggle against the Israeli barrier, adding that they have forwarded official reports on the deteriorating conditions.
The Palestinian authorities have been threatened by Israel on the issue and perhaps that is why their hands are tied, officials said.
